All In
by fivealive123
Summary: One night of poker can change your life, especially when you are gambling with your heart! One shot about Dom and Letty starting a relationship.


All In

Poker, real poker, was a thrill. A game of high stakes. It required strategy and patience. A hell of a lot of guts. And a look that exuded nothing but confidence. Needless to say, Dominic Toretto found poker to be exhilarating at an early age.

"You've to go play big to win big," Dominic's father used to always tell him.

Dom knew the game before he knew how to speak. He was pretty sure his father taught him how to recognize numbers when he was little by using poker cards. Tony Toretto and his buddies from the garage would sit around for hours playing. Sometimes Tony would take the pot, sometimes he would lose his shirt. He never knew. And it was precisely this rush from not knowing what could happen that made the game so right for him. When they couldn't race and they did not need to work on their cars, poker was their drug of choice.

Dom, like his father, loved a little excitement. Tony taught Dom how to play poker as soon as he was old enough to fan cards. Texas hold'em, Omaha, seven card stud, five card draw, and every hi lo combinations in between. Dominic could play them all. And he was good. The first thing his dad taught him was the 'poker face'. This hard stare showed absolutely no emotion but told others that you were not willing to back down. Dominic used this face that he learned from his father more frequently than any other. Anytime he wanted to make a point, just put on that poker face.

This night did not start off extremely atypically from other nights. Vince, Dom, Letty, Mia, Leon, and Jesse went to the races. Another race night. Another night Tony was out of town. Another party at the Toretto house. It was an easy equation, 1+1+1= fun. The house was pumping. The party could be heard blocks away. Coronas were flowing by the caseload. Tequila shots were being handed out like Halloween candy. Everyone was having a blast. But, eventually, the party died down.

Around 4 o'clock in the morning, the better part of the crowd had departed. The team was left. The team and their random partners for the night. They were scrounging for rooms to hook up in. Mia was trying to clear out cups and clean up spilled liquids. What kind of liquid- she didn't know and did not want to know.

Dom and Letty were playing _Rush_ on the Nintendo 64. Only in the past few weeks had Dom opted out of finding a different random girl at each race. This was interesting and unusual for him. No one said anything. Everyone suspected something was up.

"I'm not cleaning up if you guys are just going to sit there and not help," Mia told them both.

"Then don't clean up right now," Dom told her curtly, trying to see around her as she was blocking the television screen.

"Who's number one now sucker?" Letty asked pridefully. Dom's lack of attention had allowed Letty's electronic car to take the lead.

"Mia move," Dom insisted.

"Dom! I am cleaning up the house for Christ's sake. The least you could do is help," she complained, still blocking his view.

"Fuck Mia. Seriously, move. You're making me lose," Dom said, even more frustrated than before. He hated losing to Letty. Their competition had gotten to an almost unhealthy level in this game. It was dog-eat-dog, cut throat.

"Fine!" Mia stated angrily to her brother. "You clean up!"

"Yeah, that'll happen," Letty whispered under her breath as Mia stormed upstairs.

"Heard that," Mia retorted.

"Meant ya to," Letty shouted back to her. "No way you're catching up now, man."

"We got to start over," Dom insisted.

"Hell no. Just 'cause you're losing you wanna start over. Dream on, man," Letty said, her car making another perfect turn around the last dangerous curve of the track.

"No, no, no," Dom cried out as Letty's car past the finish line.

"That's what I'm talking about," Letty cried triumphantly. "Eat it up loser!"

"Fuck!" Dom yelled as 2nd place flashed across his part of the screen.

"Yeah, 2nd place. How does it feel to be the first loser? It's gotta sting, huh?" she joked.

"You just won out of default. If Mia hadn't been in the way I totally would have schooled you," he replied.

"Tell yourself whatever you need to, if it helps you sleep at night!"

"Whatever," he slammed the remote on the coffee table.  
"You want to play again?" she smiled.

"Hell no."

"Well I ain't tired. Entertain me. I don't wanna go home."

Letty never wanted to go home.

Dom thought about what she had said. Entertain her. He could do that.

"Alright, then," he said, reaching into the drawer of the side table. He pulled out a deck of cards and started to shuffle.

"I ain't playing strip poker," she replied, knowing from experience that was the next step he was going to try.

"How 'bout a little Hold 'em?" he tempted.

"Only if you want to know what it's like to lose twice in one night," Letty said.

"Big words for a little girl," Dom smiled at her challenge.

She reached over and pulled out the bag of poker chips that lived in the drawer of the coffee table. The reds, blues, and whites mixed in together. She started sorting them into color groups and he bridged the cards and ensured they were shuffled sufficiently. Letty started dealing out equal chips between Dominic and herself.

"Shit we aint' nickel and diming it here. You wanna play, you best back those chips up with something green and covered in dead presidents," Dom told her, shuffling the cards quickly and fluently.

"All right. If that's the way you wanna play," she said, reaching around for her back pocket. She retrieved her wallet and opened it up. Without even thinking, she grabbed all the bills and dropped them on the table. "Deal me in."

Things had been so awkward between the two of them this past week. About three months after Letty's sixteenth birthday party, she and Dom had gotten incredibly drunk together after one of the races. It had started out as more of a celebratory drink, recognizing Dom's dominance over Johnny Tran out on the streets. One drink led to another, which led to another, which led to shots, which led to body shots. The rest of the evening was somewhat of a blur to both of them. But, the next morning they woke up next to each other in the bed, naked. That part they remembered. They remembered it as very awkward.

What do you say in that situation? When you have known the person for over six years. Seen them at their best. And also at their worst. Letty didn't say anything. She grabbed her clothes and jetted out of there so quickly that Dom wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or if a person actually just flew by him.

From that point forward, their drunken escapades had become a weekend ritual. And, each time, it was slightly less awkward. They would sit in bed in the morning and just shoot the breeze, trying to talk through their hangovers. They never displayed any affection in public. They did not talk to the team about it. No one knew exactly what was going on, Dom and Letty had grown very good at hiding it. But, they could tell something was changing in the group dynamics. Everyone knew where Letty had been sleeping. But, no one wanted to get their ass kicked. So they kept quiet.

Everyone assumed that tonight would follow the same pattern. They had raced. They had partied. The next step was for Letty to wind up in Dom's bed. But this week was different. Letty had been distancing herself from Dominic. She had not stayed away from the team, just him. When they went out, she never road with him. When they were at the races, she would go talk to other people. Even at the party tonight, she made herself scarce when Dominic was around.

Dom could not, for the life of him, figure out why. He was rather enjoying the newfound "friends with benefits" relationship he had recently procured with her. There was something about Letty that was alluring to him, and addicting. He craved the weekends when they would hook up. It couldn't happen soberly, in his opinion. That would be too weird. But, drunken hook ups always have an excuse- you're drunk.

But with Letty keeping her distance, Dom was beginning to wonder. The more he considered all the options, the more he disliked every one he could come up with. Was she crushing on somebody? Did she not like him? Was she finished with their weekend custom? He hoped not. But, why did he hope not? Was it just the sex he did not want to lose? Or was it more? That thought petrified him.

"Who was that guy you were with tonight?" Dom asked as he dealt out the cards.

"I think he is probably related to that chick you were with," she smiled at him. "Jealous Dom?" she teased.

He shook his head no. "Get with who you want. Just make sure he wraps it up."

"That's…beautiful advice Dom."

He shrugged. "I'm here to help."

She nodded sarcastically.

"Hey, hey, if we're playing for green, I wanna see yours," she said, pointing to her stack of money on the table.  
"Bet that's not all you wanna see," he smirked, reaching and grabbing a sufficient amount of his own bills.

"Yeah, yeah, you wish. Okay, ante up," she said, throwing a chip in the middle.

He tossed one in the middle. She was studying her cards intensely. He was studying her. The outline of her face. The way that little bit of hair always seemed to fall around her right cheek. Her dark eyes.

"I'm just saying be careful's all," he said, flipping back to their original discussion. He didn't want her to notice that he was noticing her. He quickly averted his gaze towards his own cards.

"Don't worry, man. It's all good. Besides, it ain't like I'm gonna hook up with him."

Dom just shot her a look of disbelief.

"I'm not," she defended.

"Okay," he said, still not buying it. He brought his beer bottle to his lips and finished off the contents. He sat the empty bottle on the floor by his feet and reached over to the cooler.

"We were just dancin'," she retorted. She looked at him. The way his muscles looked in that shirt. The hard look he tried to keep on his face that emphasized his high cheekbones.

"Dry humping," he coughed out. He continued to fake cough in a poor attempt to make his ploy believable.

"You alright? Got something in your throat?" she asked sarcastically. Trying to stop looking at him.

"Nope," he responded and then smiled, "did you?"

Her mouth fell agape with surprise at what he had just suggested. She threw a chip at him, "No! Asshole."

"Thanks," he responded. "I'll add this one to my pile." He took the chip she had thrown at him and added it to the top of his chips.

"Hand me a beer," she said, chugging her beer, finishing it off in record time.

"Careful now," he said, handing her another beer. "Wouldn't want to cloud your judgment."

"Okay captain hypocrite. I'll take that into consideration."

Dom began lying down and turning over cards.

"Nice," he said. "I'm in six. You gonna call?"

"I'll raise you two," she smirked, throwing eight chips into the pot.

"Oh, pulling out the big guns, huh?" he joked, tossing in another two chips before turning the next card over.

"So who was that skank you were," she started and then falsely coughed out, "dry humping, tonight?"

He shrugged. "Think her name was Brittany something."

"Wow Dom, don't even know her name. You're such a charmer. And her name was Jennifer. She goes to school with me."

"Eh, I was close," Dom said turning over another card. He smiled as he looked between his hand and the cards shown.

"Right because those names are practically interchangeable," Letty joked.

"Sometimes," Dom suggested.

"I'll raise three," Letty said, throwing in more chips.

"Damn you gonna run outa chips quick playing like that," Dom said, calling her wager.

"Don't you worry about me. I got all kinda plans up my sleeve," she said.

"I'm sure you do, Letty," he replied.

"So, you like that girl," Letty asked, trying to be casual.

"I didn't even remember her name. What do you think?" he replied.

"I think you were with her all night and she wanted to get with you," Letty retorted.

"Well maybe I had better things to do," Dom remarked, turning over the last card.

"Right because Dominic Toretto always has better things to do than a girl," she stated sarcastically.

"It ain't like I'm a walking boner. Jeez cut me some slack," he retorted.

"Never thought I'd hear you say something like that. Dom turning down sex. I gotta know, why? This is a first."

"I'd rather be here with you doing this than hooking up with some random that I ain't never gonna see again," he let out before his mind actually caught up with what he was admitting.

Letty was speechless. What was he saying?

"Why? Would you rather be hooking up with that winner you were with?" he asked hesitantly, trying to keep his cool and not show emotion. Poker face.

Letty hesitated. Would she? Hell no. She'd rather be sitting on the couch with Dominic than anywhere else in the world. But how to answer…

"No. I'd rather be here."

"Just here. Or here with me?" he questioned.

Letty was pretty sure her face was turning red. Were they really having open dialogue about this? "With you."

"So why you been so MIA this week?" he pushed further.

A shrug was how Letty opted to respond.

"Bullshit," Dom called her out.

"What?" she asked.

"It's like you been trying to avoid me or something."

Damn. Called out. Letty killed her beer. She needed some liquid courage for this conversation. "Honestly, I mean you know we've had a lotta fun these past couple weeks."

"Yeah," Dom smiled at the memories.

"But, you know, I mean where's it going? I don't wanna be just another notch in Dominic Toretto's belt. Of course, I guess I already am. But I ain't gonna be that girl. The racer chaser. Just good for a fuck."

"Letty you could never be like that," Dom admitted.

"Funny because that's sorta what I feel like is happening," she replied.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Because we're sneaking around and fucking when we're drunk on the weekends."

"What do you want?" Dom asked, wondering if he was really able to have a relationship. If that was what was being propositioned.

Again, Letty just shrugged.

"Well you gotta give me something. You can't just be avoiding me and shit and then telling me that I make you feel like crap. But not offering up no solutions," Dom told her.

"I guess I just want….more. Something real. Or nothing at all," Letty finally admitted.

"More," Dom repeated. He thought. And if he was honest with himself, he wanted more with Letty too.

He pushed all of his chips to the middle. She looked up from her cards to watch this bold move. Every single chip? Was he nuts?

"I'm all in."

"You're bluffing,"

"Try me," he replied solidly. "We ain't got all night, Ortiz. Ball's in your court."

She looked at him, knowing that this was more than just a stupid card game now. He was actually talking about starting a relationship with her. She was betting on her life at this point. Gambling with fate. House odds were against her. She was backed into a corner. She knew it was either fold or go all in. But, could she handle it if she went all in? Going all in with Dominic Toretto was risking a lot. Playing Russian roulette with your heart. She didn't want to get attached or, heaven forbid, fall in love, and risk getting her heart broken. Enough things were broken in her life. She didn't need one more. But, if she won…the pot was big. Her winnings would be great. Leap of faith? Is that what this is called?

She moved all of her chips into the center, her eyes completely locked with his. "All in."

The end


End file.
